Stargazers -- Haru x Merman Reader
by NaroKusanagi-99
Summary: Every night, Haruka Nanase would go down to the beach where he would watch the glittering stars in the endless sky. One evening, he notices a song from the distant ocean. Where did the voice come from, and how will he react to a new-and unexpected-stargazing partner? Contains Boy's Love (BL), growing character, and overall fluff. Don't like, don't read.


The tide had come in hours ago, and the gentle, cool night's breeze carried with it the songs of the sea. Slightly foamy waves lapped the shores, the footsteps in the white sand fading with each pull of the salty liquid. An endlessly dark sky stretched far beyond the horizon, littered with countless, glittering stars. The silver moonlight shone upon the length of the quiet, empty beach—save for one male.

As much as he wanted to take a quick dip in the cool water, even the infamous Haruka Nanase knows that the sea can become unpredictable after daylight hours. Thus, the male sat there on a damp rock, his feet barely touching the calmly rolling waves. Blue eyes gazed out to the wide ocean blue, watching as each ripple vanished into another, as small waves brought ashore a few glass bottles that he would later pick up and discard. But the scenery of the ocean at night was not what brought him to come here almost every night…

The attraction was the starry skies.

Every night, the teen would sit on the very same rock and gaze to the heavens, watching the stars above him shine and twinkle. That, along with the cool, salty breeze and the endless hum of the ocean winds…This was, to him, Heaven on earth. Just the big, wide ocean, the stars in the night sky, and himself on the lonely beach.

At least he thought so.

It had been happening for several nights. Sometimes, Haruka would find himself hearing voices—an angelic one singing an arrangement of melodious notes in harmony with the wind. He would think that his mind was playing tricks with him due to lack of sleep, but it got more frequent, and started sounding clearer and clearer each time the moon replaced the sun in the sky. But one particular night, the songs suddenly stopped.

Despite being against his plans, the raven left his rock that night, switched on his small flashlight, and roamed the beach in search of something he was not even sure of. The cool, wet sand began to stick between his toes irritatingly, and the few strong waves almost reached up to his thigh, dampening his trousers as he went along. The light from his small tool shone left and right, searching in the darkness. But no matter how long or how far he searched, the only things that he would find were the occasional crabs roaming the beach for a late-night snack, or small piles of seaweed washing ashore with pieces of seashells trapped within.

 _'There's nothing here…'_ he thought, turning around on his heel to head back to his favourite rock, when the bright flashlight caught something in its field. Turning to properly observe the object spotted by his flashlight, Haruka almost immediately made out a form of something struggling in the water, not too far from where he stood. Salty liquid splashed about everywhere as the creature struggled in mass panic. Upon taking a second look, the creature seemed to have humanoid qualities, leading the teen to believe it was human.

Without a second thought, the ravenette removed his jacket and jumped headfirst into the freezing water where it was deep enough. Reaching closer to the struggling figure, he saw that it was indeed human, with (h/l) (h/c) hair. The 'human' thrashed around in panic, and upon closer inspection, the culprit came into light: a fishing net made to catch sharks. Without a moment to lose, Haruka held onto the other's hands, trying his best to calm the person down as much as possible. "Calm down. I'm here to help you get out of this." Not much positive response, but the figure's thrashing had calmed slightly. Deciding that staying in their current depth would be too dangerous, the teen dragged the other up towards the shore, where he noticed the feel of skin on his hands felt more like scales. He ignored it, continuing his endeavor of carrying the struggling creature to safety—now carrying the other carefully by his waist. That moment was when his earlier speculation had been proven completely wrong.

Where there should be feet, was instead a fish-like tail covered in (f/c OR h/c) scales lashing around madly, but not strongly possibly due to fatigue. The net had wrapped tightly around the creature's torso, arm and tail, limiting his mobility and respiration ability. Where there should only be skin was also covered by glistening scales of equal colour to the tail, and the panicked (e/c) orbs held pupils of a felid nature, becoming a slit when it met Haruka's blue orbs for a split second before dilating again.

Remembering the hazardous situation the creature was in, Haruka snapped out of his daze and rushed to place the creature a little ways from the water so he would not drown in his struggles, and grabbed his jacket which had been laying unattended on the sand. Remembering that he had stashed a few glass bottles in the jacket pocket, he reached in, grabbed one, and slammed it into a rock, breaking it into tiny bits. With the aid of the torchlight, he found one piece of glass which had broken into a nice, jagged shape, picked it up and made his way back to the panicked being.

Panic flashed in the (e/c) orbs as the trapped creature laid eyes on the sharp object, thrashing more as he thought harm would come upon him. "Stop moving so much. We need to get this off of you." In a discreetly angry tone, the teen reached down and grabbed a handful of net, tearing into it with the sharp glass and cutting it apart. One by one, the ropes which made up the shark net loosened from around the creature's torso, arm, and tail, until eventually, he was free from the item's grip—and ultimately—saved from an untimely demise.

Finally, silence returned to the night. For a brief moment, the creature also relaxed enough for Haruka to observe his features. Wet (h/c) locks and (f/c OR h/c) scales glistened beneath the dim moonlight as the long piscine tail slowly dragged across the sand. His feline eyes were no longer as dilated, seeming like a relaxed cat. A thought finally occurred to the male. It was something that had been on the tip of his tongue the entire time, he just had a hard time believing it himself.

As if suddenly just realizing that he was not alone on the beach, the creature hoisted himself up with his arms and carried his weight to the water, swimming away in haste. Watching as the figure vanished into the distance, the realization finally truly kicked in.

 _'That was a merman.'_

X

That was several months ago, when the two first met. Every night since, Haruka would return to the beach and see the merman singing his special song. Eventually, the two grew closer and formed an unlikely friendship between human and merman. Since the merman was unable to speak the human language, Haruka settled with calling him (y/n).

Before they knew it, the two ended up spending every night together, sitting on Haruka's favourite rock and stargazing together. It was wonderful for both of them. Just sitting together and watching the stars burn brightly in the endless sky. It was a beauty of nature made more beautiful by (y/n)'s angelic hymns. The nights became more enjoyable for Haruka, with the company of a mystical creature from the deep blue.

And the merman equally enjoyed the human's company. After all, Haruka _did_ save his life.

And so the two had formed a set schedule: Go to the beach to meet each other at night, sit on the rock, watch stars together, take a super quick dip if the weather was nice, go their separate ways for the night, sleep and spend the day as usual, rinse and repeat.

Ever since he had suddenly found himself all alone in the big ocean one day, (y/n) was finally happy again to have someone to look forward to meeting, to spend time with…

…and to love.

Yet the cruel truth remains that they were just too different.

X

One night, (y/n) waited eagerly for his friend to arrive, so that he could share with the human his most precious treasure: a beautiful black pearl given to him by his mother. Hours passed, and the earliest rays of the sun had begun to peek past the clouds, yet there was no sign of his savior. But he returned again the following night, waiting on their favourite rock.

He waited…

…and waited…

…and waited…

But his human friend never returned. Then he recalled the few, rare words spoken by the human boy:

"I'll be going away for a bit." Was the words the teen spoke of one night, as they gazed up at the few stars still glittering in the cloudy sky. Blue orbs and (e/c) orbs met in that moment, confusion playing in the merman's cat-like pupils. He could not point out the exact emotion hidden behind the other's eyes, but a hint of sadness lingered about the male human. (Y/n) did not understand exactly what the other meant, but felt that the other had been saddened for some reason. Gently, he clasped Haruka's warm hands, so warm in contrast to his own scaly, cold hands.

Trying to cheer the human up, he did the only thing that he could think of at that exact moment: Although with a slight doubt in the pit of his heart, (y/n) gently pulled Haruka into a relaxing embrace. Both were tense at first, due to the strange feeling of skin and scale against cloth, but slowly, the warmth they shared washed away every hint of awkwardness. At that moment, the young merman finally realized something. He had been so blind and preoccupied by the stars to have seen it before.

The strange feeling he had been feeling since the first time they sat next to each other on that rock, it was not just the usual kind of like. He realized that he liked the human more than just as someone who had rescued him, more than just a friend to watch stars with every night. It was a strange thought to consider, but…

…were these feelings actually love?

Unfortunately, he did not have a chance to truly figure it out. As the first raindrops fell from above, the two had to part—the human to his home on land, and the merman to his dwelling beneath the water's surface.

And that was the last time (y/n) ever saw his human friend.

In spite of himself, he continued to return to the rock every night, waiting for his stargazing partner to return. Only then can they resume counting the stars in the boundless sky, and only then can (y/n) finally understand his true feelings.

X

He had already lost count of the number of times the sun and moon switched places. Had that many years passed by? He guessed it had, from the many changes he'd seen in his surroundings. Gazing up to the sky painted crimson and littered with the first stars of the evening, Haruka brushed a few stray strands of hair from his face, making his way to the beach after such a long time. All that time, he had been busy with his studies in a faraway town. Now that he had finished, the male was finally able to return to his hometown…

…and understand his true feelings for the merman he had known for so long.

The salty water had already reached its highest level on the beach, and silent waves came in greeting, almost asking the ravenette of his whereabouts in the past years. Haruka of course, ignored the rolling waves as he searched for that one person he had fallen for.

In the soft moonlight, a familiar figure sat almost unmoving on the rock which had been their favourite spot on the entire beach. (F/c OR h/c) scales shined and glistened in the silver light, soft (h/c) tresses playing in the ocean breeze as (e/c) eyes gazed up to the heavens in wonder and hope.

"You came." Jumping slightly, the merman snapped his head around to see the source of that familiar voice. Once again after so long, blue eyes and (e/c) eyes met, the first pair seeming slightly more mature and intelligent now. (Y/n) smiled after finally realizing that his old friend had returned at last. The ravenette barely had time to adjust his seating on the rock before a pair of (s/c) arms wrap around him endearingly, holding him close. Though a bit surprised, the human male still returned the gesture without any hint of hesitation. (Y/n)'s tears which had been kept hidden all that time finally spilt beneath the dim moonlight, only seen by Haruka once they parted.

Tears still steadily streaming down his cheeks, the merman rested his ears against the other's chest, listening to the equally rapid heartbeats of Haruka. "Hey, come on. I didn't come all the way here to see you cry." Firmly but still gently, Haruka reached down and lifted the merman's face to properly meet his, slowly closing the space between them.

It turned out that any worries they had were unjustified. Not even a language barrier could get in the way of their love for each other. The kiss was soft and loving, (y/n) melting into it almost immediately. Parting once they both needed to breathe, the blue eyed male stared into the captivating pair of (e/c) orbs, finally able to share what he had wanted to say for so long.

"I love you."

The merman could only nod, sinking deeper into the warmth of Haruka's embrace, before giving the human his most precious treasure, as if it were his own way of saying the same three words. For the rest of the night, the two continued to gaze at the stars as they did years ago, parting ways when the sun had risen, this time with promises of meeting again the next night, as two stargazers on the lonely beach.


End file.
